1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for opening and closing the discharge door of a bulk seed box and more particularly to a device which utilizes an electrically operated screw actuator to open and close the discharge door.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bulk seed systems have been in wide use for many years to eliminate the need for filling row planter boxes and grain drills with seed from individual bags. A popular type of bulk seed box is that which is manufactured by Buckhorn, Inc. of Milford, Ohio, who is the owner of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,845,799 and 6,010,022 relating to bulk boxes. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. of Johnston, Iowa, markets agricultural seeds in large bulk boxes under the registered trademark PROBOX®. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,094,356 and 7,086,342 which disclose bulk seed boxes having discharge doors or slide gates.
The bulk seed boxes of Buckhorn, Inc. and Pioneer have a sliding discharge door at the lower ends thereof through which the seed in the bulk box is dumped into a seed system, wagon, truck, etc. When the large bulk seed boxes are delivered to a farmer or the like, the bulk seed box is normally elevated above the ground by means of a forklift or a front end loader so that the contents of the bulk seed box may be dumped into a seed system/wagon/truck so that the seed may be conveyed therefrom into the planting devices. The fact that the bulk boxes are elevated above the truck or the like requires that a person climb upwardly on the truck or a ladder to manually open the discharge door. Further, the weight of the seed in the box sometimes causes the seed box to slightly deform which makes it extremely difficult to manually open or close the discharge door.